1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cellular telephone. More specifically, the present invention discloses a cellular telephone onto which can be connected a module to enhance the functionality of the cellular telephone.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over the years, cellular telephones have become increasingly common. In conjunction with this, the internal processing circuitry of cellular telephones has become more powerful, with faster processors and more memory. Indeed, many modern cellular telephones are, in fact, highly portable and sophisticated computers. Such advances have encouraged the manufacturers of cellular telephones to include more and more options and functions with their cellular telephones. A drawback to this, though, is a perception in the marketplace that any cellular telephone that a user may buy will quickly become obsolete in view of ever-widening options being placed into newer models. Unlike personal computers, which may be upgraded and expanded to a certain degree by changing or adding hardware within the casing, cellular telephones currently offer no such possibilities. Once purchased, a user can expect the hardware and software within a cellular telephone to remain virtually unchanged over the lifetime of the device. Not only can this be a source of dissatisfaction to users, but it is actually quite wasteful, for many new options of a new cellular telephone are often simple additions to the basic functionality of an older model.
It is therefore a primary objective of this invention to provide a cellular telephone to which can be connected a module for enhancing the functionality of the cellular telephone.
The present invention, briefly summarized, discloses a peripheral module for enhancing the functionality of a cellular telephone. The cellular telephone has a processing circuit for controlling the operations of the cellular telephone, a keypad to provide input from a user, a display to provide visual output to the user, and an input/output (I/O) port electrically connected to the processing circuit. The peripheral module has a peripheral circuit for performing a peripheral function, a memory, and a connecting port for connecting the peripheral circuit and the memory to the I/O port of the cellular telephone. The memory of the peripheral module has a peripheral driver program for controlling operations of the peripheral circuit. After the connecting port of the peripheral module is electrically connected to the I/O port of the cellular telephone, the processing circuit executes the peripheral driver program so as to perform the peripheral function.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the peripheral module can enhance the basic functionality of the cellular telephone. Consequently, the useful lifetime of the cellular telephone can be lengthened, and perceived obsolescence avoided.